Banks pitch total-return swaps as stock purchase alternative, WSJ reportsBanks have been pitching certain hedge fund clients on using derivatives instead of actual stocks when placing certain bets in an effort to lessen the impact of new capital rules on the banks' businesses, the Wall Street Journal reports, citing people familiar with the efforts. The shift involves derivatives known as total-return swaps that mirror the effects of owning a stock or other asset, the report says. Units of Bank of America (BAC), Goldman Sachs (GS), JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Morgan Stanley (MS), and UBS (UBS) are among the banks asking clients to shift trades into total-return swaps instead of underlying securities, the report says. Reference Link

Earnings Watch: Analysts upbeat on Facebook revenue drivers ahead of Q2 reportFacebook (FB) is expected to report second quarter earnings after the market close on Wednesday, July 29 with a conference call scheduled for 5:00 pm ET. Facebook is a social networking service with over 1B active users. EXPECTATIONS: Analysts are looking for earnings per share of 47c on revenue of $3.99B. The consensus range is 39c-54c for EPS, and $3.66B-$4.22B for revenue, according to First Call. LAST QUARTER: Facebook reported first quarter EPS of 42c against estimates of 40c, on revenue of $3.54B against estimates of $3.56B. Facebook reported Q1 daily active users were up 17% to 936M and mobile daily active users were up 31% to 798M. Monthly active users were 1.44B as of March 31, 2015. The company said Instagram has more than 200M daily users. During its Q1 earnings conference call, Facebook said it expects Foreign Exchange headwinds in Q2 will be greater than Q1. It said it expects total payments and other fees revenue to decline year-over-year for the remainder of the year. NEWS: In the past quarter, Facebook introduced video calling and Moneypenny features to its Messenger service. It also announced the Internet.org platform and its Instant Articles for publishers. Re/code said Facebook may be mulling a Twitter (TWTR) acquisition, but Facebook declined to comment. A New York Times article said Facebook is in talks to insert music videos in feeds. Facebook also said there was no truth to a rumor that said it may launch a music streaming service. STREET RESEARCH: Most analyst firms in the past quarter gave positive recommendations on Facebook, citing strong revenue drivers from multiple sources, SunTrust said Facebook could get a significant revenue boost from its Instagram move and expects the Buy button could lift revenue 5%-10%. Piper Jaffray said Facebook’s multiple is expected to increase as investors become more aware of VR, adding that the company is the best play on the “next computer paradigm of virtual reality.” JMP Securities say Facebook is expected to continue its growth in ad share as Instagram engagement and monthly average users continue to grow. Ahead of the Q2 earnings report, ITG Research said Q2 revenue is tracking slight above consensus and BTIG expects Facebook to exceed consensus estimates due to higher confidence in video advertising opportunity. Brean Capital said Facebook will face ForEx headwinds in Q2, but quarterly results are less relevant as investors will be focused on the long-term goals. PRICE ACTION: Facebook shares have gained about 13% since the first day of trading following the company's Q1 report. In Wednesday afternoon trading ahead of its Q2 report, Facebook shares are up 0.5%

Facebook technical comments ahead of resultsOn the daily chart there is a potential bullish flag that has developed in the last two weeks. If the news is strongly bullish, the flag pattern would become active on a move above $96.50. Upside potential for the pattern, if it triggers and completes, is to the $110 to $112 area. If the news is instead a negative surprise, first established support would be at the $90 area. On a breakdown below $90, next support would be at the 50-day moving average at $86.16. If the 50-day is broken, next support is at $84.74. The $83 to $80 zone has been strong support over the prior year in the event of a larger negative surprise.